Hans Friedman's blog

On 11/02/07  I sent this e-mail to all

On January 12, 2002, I sent this letter to then 1st Ward Ald. Art Newman and also to Max Rubin and the Editors of the Evanston Review and the Evanston Roundtable.

This message is addressed primarily to my architectural colleagues:

I believe that the suggestion to develop some of the Civic Center site in a manner similar to the re-development of the Dryden Mansion site (the former District 65 Headquarters) may be a feasible approach. However, in this case it would allow a developer only to obtain air-rights over some strips of City property along Simpson, Asbury and Leonard Place to develop a string of townhouses. All access, pedestrian and vehicular,  to these townhouses would be from the street to avoid using land for alleys intruding into the City property. A part of the existing parking lot would be demolished and  returned to grass and trees. Most of the eliminated parking spaces, which are presently occupied by City employees would be relocated to the City Service Center at 2020 Asbury which only one block away. The present parking lot at the Service Center may require construction of an inexpensive steel structure to provide a second level of parking.

I believe that to get our point - saving the Civic Center – across to the Community we need to provide some first class  visual and graphic materials rather than just mentioning possibilities of what might be done.

The reason I am addressing this to my architectural colleagues is that they have current CAD software that I no longer have access to. This will allow them to make a variety of much more  dramatic illustrations and renderings of a proposal similar to what   I am suggesting in the attached, unfortunately primitive  picture.

So, let’s get to work, guys and gals.

Additionally, someone, other than Architects, perhaps Jay Lytle, Mayor Morton or someone else of that stature in our group should investigate the possibilities to engage some of our most prosperous employers, such as Northwestern University and Evanston Northwestern Healthcare in shaking loose some funds to maintain our architectural heritage. You remember the disastrous approach the Council and US Equities made to Northwestern about the Farmers Market site, a site totally unsuitable for a Civic Center,  where talk of acquisition by Eminent Domain resulted in Northwestern’s threat of a law suit. The City could probably sweeten a deal with Northwestern by granting some zoning relief to the University in a few specific areas west of Sheridan Road. As you all  know, the Ivy League schools, Harvard, Yale and Princeton all provide substantial, regular financial support to their communities. So far, Northwestern has refused to do so. Perhaps we could find a way.

Let’s keep going!


HANS A. FRIEDMAN, FAIA 

Some corrections to the articles "Another High-rise for Research Park" by Bill Smith on November 16, 2006 in evanstonnow.com and "Neighbors weigh in on high-rise plan" by Bob Seidenberg in the January 11, 2007 issue of the Evanston Review are warranted. Their descriptions of the building as a "3 story office building", as reported in both articles, is way off the mark, as is the subjective opinion of others quoted in the Evanston Review.

It is remarkable in how many ways recent actions and activities by members of the Evanston City Council, all Democrats, do mirror the actions and activities by members of the Bush Administration and the Republican Congress. Of course, there are huge differences in the impact these actions and activities have on all of their constituents, but many of the methods used are surprisingly similar.